At a special called meeting Wednesday, the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen OK’d up to 13 hours of overtime pay for five firefighters who spent Sunday covering the Yazoo City Fire Department while it assisted residents following Saturday’s tornado.

The assistance was requested Saturday, said Mayor Paul Winfield, and the five firefighters were given the OK to go according to the State Mutual Aid Compact. SMAC allows municipalities to authorize emergency spending in neighboring communities if aid is requested, and then later ratify the action in a formal meeting. Vicksburg has been a participating SMAC community since 2002. 

Also Wednesday, the board renewed a state of emergency concerning an unstable water main beneath Washington and Jackson streets. The 36-inch water pipe, which is a vital link of the city’s water service to its 10,000 customers, was temporarily stabilized following a March 26 land shift near the developing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers interpretive museum. 

The city plans to reroute the pipe one block around the site of the shift at Washington Street via Main, Walnut and Jackson streets, and last week hired an engineer to get the project under contract. The Corps has agreed to pay for the relocation. Wednesday’s action was a formality, said the board, as the original emergency declaration was only good for 30 days.

Public Works Director Bubba Rainer has estimated the pipe will be rerouted in about 30 working days once the work is under way. The city’s emergency declaration allows officials to obtain quotes on the work instead of advertising for bids.

In closed session, the board OK’d one re-hire in the accounting department, and discussed two personnel issues in the parks and recreation maintenance department.